SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES OF SWIFTSURE BANK 
765 
of the period usually fished during the earlier years. The decrease in abundance is 
astounding, the average of 14.85 sockeye per delivery during the later years being but 
24 percent of the earlier average. Even if the former big-year cycle is omitted from 
both periods, the deliveries in the later period are only 32 percent of the earlier. 
Table 30. — Average catch per gill net delivery of sockeye on the Fraser River 
Years 
Number 
caught 
July 15 
to Aug. 25, 
inclusive 
Number 
of de- 
liveries 
Average 
delivery 
Years 
Number 
caught 
July 15 
to Aug. 25, 
inclusive 
Number 
of de- 
liveries 
Average 
delivery 
1898. 
38, 636 
76, 910 
38, 208 
186, 797 
45, 736 
164, 058 
64, 867 
724, 000 
128, 484 
71. 292 
129, 662 
201, 467 
1,240 
1,201 
1,172 
1,345 
607 
3,640 
2,845 
4, 901 
2,237 
3,062 
3, 872 
2, 598 
31.16 
64.04 
32.60 
138. 88 
75. 35 
45. 07 
22.80 
147. 72 
57.44 
23.28 
33. 49 
77. 55 
1923 
8, 823 
IS, 266 
17, 005 
22, 134 
18, 600 
37, 873 
85, 811 
81, 557 
57, 064 
152, 847 
104, 944 
141, 932 
783 
1,018 
1, 183 
1, 172 
2,386 
3, 282 
3,512 
6, 181 
6, 101 
7, 389 
7, 677 
9, 427 
11.27 
17.94 
14. 37 
18.89 
7.80 
11.54 
24. 43 
13. 19 
9. 35 
20.69 
13. 67 
15. 06 
1899 
1924 
1900 
1925.... 
1901 
1926 
1902 
1927 
1903 
1928 
1904 
1929.... 
1905 
1930... 
1906... 
1931 
1907 
1932 
1908 
1933.... 
1909 
1934... 
Sum. 
Sum 
749. 38 
178.20 
Average 
62. 45 
14.85 
Average of “off” years 
Average of “off” years 
42.83 
13. 86 
The most unfortunate feature in the depletion of the earlier-running sockeyes is 
the accompanying fall in the quality of the pack as a whole. Not only have the 
sockeyes been depleted, but worse, the depletion has been much heavier during the 
early run when the quality is of the best. 
The late-running sockeyes have been encouraged by several circumstances; first, 
during the earlier years the late run was seldom fished on account of its inferior 
quality; second, the Fraser River closed season, which began on August 25 during 
most years, was a protection; third, the 10-day fall closed season in odd-numbered 
years from 1921-29, and in all years since 1930 in Puget Sound waters, has enlarged 
the escapement of the late-running fish. This serves to emphasize the fact, common 
to nearly all fisheries, that the most valuable portion of a population is usually the 
first to be destroyed. 
CHANGES IN ABUNDANCE 
Because the sockeye has always been the chief object of the gill net and trap 
fisheries, its abundance may be more accurately measured than that of the other 
species. The abundance of a salmon run cannot be measured in the same manner 
as that of a marine species for which each unit of gear may fish throughout the season 
upon the same general population. The salmon are running a gauntlet, each school 
avoiding capture as it approaches closer to its goal. Therefore, because variations in 
temperatures, currents, winds and tides cause changes in the rate and exact route of 
migration, the productivity of the different fishing areas may exhibit annual variations 
independent of those produced by the actual numbers of migrating sockeyes. 
Conditions often favor one form of gear more than another, so that the availability 
of the schools to one method of fishing must not be accepted as the final criterion of 
